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I was actually lamenting about this to a few people tonight. The way Harry’s being treated actually reminds me a lot of how women are often treated- it’s ok to be ambitious just as long as you’re not TOO ambitious. It’s great to go for something as long as you don’t make it look like you’re trying too hard.

Is there a difference between harries and solo harries anymore because you all sound the same. This answer is something that solo harries would’ve been DRAGGED for before the launch of HOLO. But since that is exactly the road Harry has chosen to take – the road of purchasing your accolades, of stomping down your past – I suppose it must be guarded and defended. 

If he was ambitious he would be working on creating a product actually worthy of acclaim rather than buying it. If he was ambitious he wouldn’t OK his team going after his former bandmates in order to elevate himself because his success would be dependent on his own output, his ambitious creations, rather than because he’s doing comparatively better.

bieberlake anon here - it’s hard to pinpoint when i started feeling like 2013 harry was actually fame hungry, because it’s a lot of little things. unfortunately my old 1d folders from that time are deleted, so i can’t pull out evidence. however https://wellthatwasaletdown.tumblr.com/post/164928119125/ryan-reymolds-twitter-bio-says-introducing-you-to

about how harry’s approached changed over time, highlights some of the little moments i was seeing. my deleted folder had a lot of pics of harry hanging out with his friends and partying. there was a time in fandom when all the boys were supposed to be regarded equally. folks obviously had favorites, but it was the opposite of now. it seemed to be a faux pas to not say you loved the boys equally or put one over the other.  each of the boys got solo headlines, though obviously harry more than the others. but in late 2013 i looked back at that and saw how harry was linking himself to celebs more often that the others. 

after haylor, i feel like the “all five equal guys” thing changed. suddenly 1d now has a frontman and his name was harry. i remember reading lots of comments from angry directioners who insisted that there was no leader in 1d, all the boys were equal. 

the british style award in 2013 sealed the deal for me. he looked a greasy orange mess most of the time, wtf? but leading up to that he was seen front row at london fashion shows – his first front row appearance was in september 2012 (when he was also rumored to be dating cara): http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/burberry-harry-styles-most-mentioned-on-twitter-during-london-fashion-week

i think burberry was harry’s first high fashion sponsorship. my memory is fuzzy, and it certainly limited to what i saw on social media, but i feel that the burberry shows subtly changed the perception of harry in fandom. like the fact that he’s in with burberry and the others aren’t means that he’s a cut above the rest. like he’s beyond the teenybopper boyband shit, like he’s climbing up to legit a-list status that the others can’t touch, because there’s something ~special~ about him that the others don’t have. (lmao)

it stood out to me as a ztan (though i did like ot5 at the time) because zayn wears clothes better than harry does and has consistently looked better, not just at events. in 2012 he stood out as the pretty and stylish one. if this was organic, why would the fashion world only seek out harry and not zayn? the others leveled up in 2013, so why aren’t they all getting these same promo opportunities if they’re all tied together as a group?

i was a zarrie/ziam ztan at the time, as well, so even though i was more focused on zayn, i did pay some attention to the others and their presented personas. there was always something off to me, between what i was getting from harry and how other zarries/harries perceived him, though i tried to push it to the back of my mind.

one of those things was art connisseur!harry:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2286161/Harry-Styles-contemplates-art-pieces-deck-bachelor-pad-private-view.html

this masterpost has a great rundown on artsy harry (and the also have a one on quirky!harry articles). i remember seeing these pics when the came out and felt, there was something bigger behind them. but i thought, maybe i was being a little salty that harry’s image was getting a serious over the others and it was being used to elevate him. i still loved zarry, so i pushed those thoughts to the back. 

as i look back i wonder if harry took pieces of each of his bandmates to incorporate them into this image and act like he owns it. i knew zayn liked to draw, but i didn’t know how much art decorated his house until a bit in tiu and again after he went solo. harry gets headlines for spending tens of thousands of dollars on ugly art, but zayn just does his thing, with graffiti and drawings and posters and comic books and whatever. plus zayn is so appreciative of fanart and keeps a facebook album devoted to it, which gives those artists exposure. 

another example is the image of harry being the most fan friendly, the one who loves the fans the best, definitely belongs to liam. liam is fully aware that many 1d fans hate him, yet he still gives them 100%. liam holds every fan of every gender like he’s their boyfriend, always smiles brightly in every pic. yet harries had the nerve to drag liam for not smiling *inbetween* pics on the red carpet, while harry has a stank face in more than half his pics. I think liam is legitimately a much kinder, sweeter, nicer person than harry. but after he took on a bit of louis’ sassyness a lot of fans forget that.

i also remember when golf!harry was big. harry taking pictures with rich old white men used to be a running joke. golf!niall was present too, except we hardly see golf!harry now, whereas niall has created a golf management company. even though niall sucks at golf, he doesn’t care. he has a genuine passion and wants to support others who are talented.

funny/witty!harry is an absolute lie that he ripped from louis. we can see now that harry is not that charming (probably from hanging with vapid socialites who drained his soul). he barely has a personality, when he doesn’t have someone to bounce off of. watching an old solo interview he did when he won the style award in 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB8l9kAVqV4 it’s like wow, he’s always been this bad outside of 1d. i was thinking maybe he was suppressing himself in current solo interviews to just be mysterious, but wow, maybe this really is him. louis really carried harry and the larry dynamic on his back. solo louis builds great rapport with interviewers even when he’s being more serious and not clowning around, while harry is as engaging as a dying fish. i think it’s just his deep voice that everyone loved. louis’ voice has a tone that irritates a lot of people. switch their voices and i wonder how much people will pretend harry has an engaging persona. 

actually, why did i ever think harry did? 1d has roasted him repeatedly for his shit storytelling. he’s literally the worst at telling anybody anything. i remember when he started talking about feeding a tortoise string beans and louis is like wtf?? or the other time when he made a joke about moving in his curtains and they made him apologize for such a shit joke. can you imagine if he didn’t have the others to cut him off? actually we don’t have too, solo harry is here and present, just like he wanted and my god are his interviews awful! the hour long grimmy interview had me crying five minutes in, i couldn’t do it. my eyes are watering at thought of his upcoming bbc special, why torture people like this??

that’s why larry died years ago. louis being a true friend, will cut off harry’s ramblings and tell him he’s talking bullshit. harry, so offended, ditched him for yes men that’ll listen to his hour long stories and call him the most interesting person ever. 

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some very good points! i remember the days where it was a sin to have a favorite lol you had to like all the boys equally. how times have changed.

but i never even thought about harry taking bits of the other boys. harry really doesn’t have a strong personality - and that’s not necessarily bad, there’s nothing wrong with being just a “nice guy.” but much like his solo rollout (where he just stole bits and pieces from rock legends) is he stealing bits and pieces from his bandmates?

i never understood harry and fashion, throwing on gucci doesn’t make it cute, i don’t care how expensive it is (also z always dresses so nice). liam deserves better from the fans yet always treats them so well, meanwhile harry over here writes a note saying “thanks” once a year and his fans think he’s Mother Theresa. i think harry took up golf to make him look more mature, while niall does it because i think he actually likes it. and dear god, is harry a lackluster storyteller. he does have a sense of humor, but it’s not sharp or witty. he can’t pull that off the way louis can and he needs to find his own personality and his own niche instead of trying to appeal to everyone.